Refractor having cylindrical lens carriers and drive means



Jan. 17, 1961 J. R. WRIGHT ETAL REFRACTOR HAVING CYLINDRICAL LENS CARRIERS AND DRIVE MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1957 INVENTOPS JOHN E. WE/GHT GEORGE E \SCHENK W C. W

ATTORNEY Jan. 17, 1961 J. R. WRIGHT ETAL REFRACTOR HAVING CYLINDRICAL LENS CARRIERS AND DRIVE MEANS Filed July 1, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 [N VENTORS JOHN I2. WEIGHT 650/265 F. SCHEN'K BY ATTORNEY 213 I REFRACTOR HAVING CYLINDRICAL LENS CARRIERS AND DRI'VE MEANS Filed July 1, 1957 Jan. 17, 1961 J. R. WRIGHT ETAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS JOHN E. WB/Gl-IT GEORGE F. SCHENK BY v MG W g 7 2,968,213 nnrnsc'ron nA'viNG CYLNDRiCAL LENS CARRIERS AND DRIVE MEANS man. Wriglit, Egg-Etienne, in George F. Schenlt; Bufialo,'iN.Y., assignor's to American Optical Company;

Southbridge, Mass., a voluntary association of Massa chusetts run my 1,1951, sans. 9,013 1 Claim. cl. ss-2z In our copending application Serial No. 629,059-filed December 18, 1956,'for 'refractors we have described and claimed mechanism useful in'such instruments for positioning before apatienfis'eyes the lens or lenses Selected by a practitioner in determining the shortcomings of the patients vision. The present invention relates to mechanism useful in such instruments for positioning a practitioners choice from a graded series of cylindrical lgnses before the eyes of a patient afilicted with astig-' of 'an' instrument embodying our invention, this view showingv many of the controls by which the instrument is operated;

Fig. 2 is a partial-section on the line 22 in Fig. '1'; Fig; 3 is,.a sectional view looking forwardly at the mechanism from theinterior, the section being indicated byvline 3-3 in Fig. 2; 1

.Fig. 4 is a similar sectional view nearer to the front of the instrument, the section being indicatedby line' 4-,-4ii1'Fig. 2; I H 7 (Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the mechanism shown'in Figs. Band 4;

.Fig.1,6 is a sectional view on an enlargedscaleshowing the common drive for the two sets oflens cellsrs'liownin Fig. 7 is o'n'al view; through the sleeve in the sight opening, taken on the line 7-7 in Figures 1 and 4. side o f the instrument shown 'in' Fig. '1, herein I to as the front, is the side on which the prac- ;stan"ds, The latter manipulates the controls to and placejntront of the patients eyes (the patient on the otlggrsideof the instrument) such lenses as; aidthe pgactitioner in testing the vision'of the patient, and in determining the proper correction. We are here concerned with patients afilicted with astigmatism, and the mechanism about to be described enables the practitioner to place before the respective eye of a patient the cylindrical lens or combination of lenses which he has selected for his tests.

There is a lens battery for each eye, but as substantially the only difference between the two batteries is that one is a right hand battery and the other isa left hand battery, we will discuss only one lens battery in describing the invention. Two carriers 8 and 9 (compare Figs. 5 and 2) are rotatably mounted in superimposed relation on a stud 10. The weaker lenses 12 (four in number, plus a vacant space) are mounted in cells 15, which are rotatable relative to the carrier 8 in which they are supported. (The purpose of such rotation will .be described later.) The stronger lenses 17 are mounted A knob 20 (seethe front of the instrument, Fig. '1) an an actuating shaft 21 rotates a dual gear on the inner end of shaft21. This djaal gear is made up of a small front gear 23 carrying on its hub a larger rear gear 25. A- driver 27 rotatably mounted on a boss 29 extending from the rear face of the housing 30 is driven by a gear 31 meshing with gear 25. The gear 31 may be formed intergrally with the fronthub of the driver 27. A rearwardly projecting hub 33 surrounds a bearing35 about which thedriver 27 and hub 33 rotate. To the hub '33 is se'cured the locking plate 37 (see Fig. 5) which functions as part of a Geneva movement to hold the strong cylindrical lens carrier 9 stationary until the time arrivesfor it to advance thespace of one lens. I x

Assuming the rotation of the gear 25 (and neglecting momentarily the simultaneous rotation of gear 23) driver 27 is rotated. Thedriv'er27 extends (mane side and in overlapping relation with the carriers 8 and 9 and is furnished with five driving pins of which four (nurii her ed 3921, 391), 39c 511613921) are short enough to only with the carrier 8, while the fifth, the pin numbered 40, is long enough tornesh both with the carrier "8 and with the carrier 9. The five driving pins 39a, 39b, 39d and 40 mesh with thecarr'ie'r 8 by entering sucee's sively the five slots 42. The long driving pin 40 entefrs not only a slot 42 (in carriers) but also one of the five slots 44 in the carrier 9. v v "It is only whentliepin '40 engages a slot 44 that the carrier 9 can rotate, because a star wheel 47 fixed to the carrier 9is nether tithes engaged by the locking plate'37;

. Geneva movement. At'the time the pin 40 enters slbt 44, the recess or scallop 49 in the circumference of locking-plate 37 permits the adjacent point of star wheel 47 to make its arcuate movement, which corresponds to the advance of the carrier 9 by the spaceof one lens. As soon as the pin 40 leaves the previously mentioned slot the circular portion of the circumference of locking plate 37 is tujrned 'toward the star wheel 47 so asto" engage in thenext adjacent recess of the star wheel.

Kceerding ly, the carrier is driven by the driver matrimony as though gearing connected them. Fer;

a complete revolutien'o'f driver 27,thecarrier 8 is driven through a "corriplete revolution; Thecarrier 9,,.on the other hand is driven fasja Genevamovementeffect its drive, namely a step byfs'tep advance of the'carrier 9; and

l w bf the driver 27 advances the car ppsitic n in the sight A roller 48 carried by a spring pressed'lever 51 acts as a click to drop into depressions 53 in the carrier 9, one depression for each cell 18. Only a light spring pressure is required to accomplish the nice adjustment of the cartier 9 needed for alignment, as the locking plate 37 resists accidental displacement of the carrier 9 due to the engagement of its circular rim with the star wheel 47 as above described. The carrier 8 is nicely adjusted to provide the desired accurate alignment by a click made up of a roller 48' carried by a spring pressed lever 51'. The roller 48' cooperates with depressions 53 provided in the driver 27, the latter controlling the position of the carrier 8 at all times due to the engagement of its pins in the slots 42. These clicks are stowed in odd corners of the housing where they do not necessitate any increase in the depth of the housing.

Returning now to the gear 23 which as above referred 2,968,213" Patented Jan. 17,

to rotates simultaneously with gear 25, an annulus 50 is provided on its inner rim with gear teeth which mesh with the gear 23 so as to be rotated thereby (see Fig. 4). This annulus carries indicia on its front face visible through an opening 52 in the housing 30 (see Fig. 1) for indicating the power of the cylindrical lens or lenses registering with the sight opening 54 of that lens battery of the instrument. The outer rim of annulus 50 is engaged by three spaced rollers 56, each roller having a groove or kerf for receiving and positioning the rim of the annulus. In this way an indicia corresponding to the power of the cylindrical lens or lens combination before the eye of the patient appears automatically in the opening 52 when the knob 20 is rotated to bring the lens into registry with the sight opening 54.

Concentric with the knob 20 and shaft 21 is an axis control 58. This control 58 is fixed to a sleeve or hub 60 journaled in bearing 75. An arm 59 extending from the control 58 gives visual indication of the axis to which the cylindrical lens is turned, and is also of assistance manually in turning the control 58. A gear 62 (compare Figs. 2 and 4) may be formed integrally with the inner end of hub 60, and when the control 58 is turned, rotating gear 62, it drives a train of gears 64, 65, 66 and 67 of which the gear 66 is concentric with the stud 10 and has a hub 76 extending within and supporting the carrier 8. A gear 69, which is pinned to the hub 76 so as to rotate with the gear 66, surrounds the stud 10 and lies between the carriers 8 and 9. The teeth of gear 69 mesh with gear teeth both on the rims of all five cells 15 and on the rims of all five cells 18 (see Figs. 5 and 6). The gears 66 and 69 will ordinarily be stationary when the carrier 8 or the carriers 8 and 9 together are rotated, with the result that the cells 15 and 18 rotate as satellites about the stationary gear 69. When the desired cell or combination of cells has been brought into alignment with the sight opening 54 by operation of the driver 27, the proper axis for the cylindrical lens or lenses can be obtained by turning the axis control 58 to rotate the gear train 64, 65 and 66 with resultant rotation of the cylindrical lenses in the cells. The orientation of the cylindrical axis is indicated (see Figs. 1 and 7) by a scale 71 fixed on the front of the housing 30 surrounding the sight opening 54 and by an index 72 marked on the rotatable sleeve 74 which lies in the practitioners end of the sight opening. This rotatable sleeve 74 is sometimes used for mounting auxiliary lenses, as explained in the patent to Peck et al. 2,322,878 granted June 29, 1943. As shown in Fig. 7, this sleeve 74 carries the gear 67 which is driven in synchronism with the gear 69 from the gear 66. It will be apparent that the sleeve 74, being driven by the same gear train as the gear 69, will reflect every shift in the axis of the cylindrical lens positioned in the sight opening 54.

As above referred to, the space available within a refractor is cramped due to the need for limiting the overall depth of the instrument. Therefore, conventional driving mechanism for advancing a selected lens or lens combination into alignment with the sight opening of the instrument is too cumbersome to fit the space available. Our invention provides a very compact arrangement for advancing the selected lens or lenses into position; and at the same time the lenses, once brought into position, are adjusted into accurate alignment with the center line of sight opening. This is particularly important in view of the fact that these driving arrangements are tied in with mechanism for rotating the lens cells once they are in position, and with a dial for indicating the lens powers which are being used to test the vision of the patient.

In the drawings are found indications of mechanism for angling the lens batteries to take care of convergence of the patients eyes for near vision tests. This mechanism is completely disclosed and is claimed in the application of John R. Wright, Serial No. 574, 774 filed March 29, 1956, now Patent No. 2,923,200, issued Feb. 2, 1960.

We claim:

The combination in an eye testing instrument of a housing, superimposed carriers for cylindrical lenses mounted in said housing for rotation about a common axis, a plurality of lens cells rotatably mounted in each of said carriers, said lens cells having rim portions formed as gears, a gear rotatable about the common axis of said carriers and meshing with said rim portions of the cells mounted in said superimposed carriers, means for driving said last mentioned gear to adjust simultaneously the axes of the cylindrical lenses on said superimposed carriers, each of said carriers having a radial slot between each pair of adjacent rotatable lens cells, and a driver mounted in said housing for rotation about an axis parallel to and offset from said first axis, a locking plate secured to said driver for rotation therewith, said driver and locking plate being in overlapping relation with said superimposed carriers and on opposite sides thereof, said driver having a long pin and a plurality of relatively short pins, the radial slots in the carrier next adjacent said driver receiving said pins in succession to provide a driving connection for continuously advancing said carrier, the radial slots in the more remote carrier receiving only said long pin and having fixed thereto a star wheel cooperating with said locking plate, whereby arcuate movement of said long pin intermittently advances said carrier and engagement of said locking plate with said star wheel locks said carrier in position between such intermittent advances, said driver having arcuately spaced notches and spring biased detent' means on the housing engageable within the notches for indexing the driver.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,172,827 Opitz Feb. 22, 1916 1,240,289 Woolf Sept. 18, 1917 1,568,586 Clement et al. Jan. 5, 1926 1,596,717 Clement et al. Aug. 17, 1926 1,666,406 Clement et a1. Apr. 17, 1928 2,322,878 Peck et a1. June 29, 1943 

